The San Francisco Giants have built their success around pitching and defense and there has been no better pitcher in San Francisco than Bumgarner the last four seasons. Bumgarner has become their unquestioned ace since 2013 and 2016 was his strongest regular season of his career. His 2.74 ERA was his lowest since becoming a starter in 2010. He also had more innings pitched (226 2/3) a better ERA+ (149), K/9 (10), and second lowest WHIP (1.024) of his career.
Cueto, who signed with the Giants in the off-season, had nearly as strong a year as Bumgarner, who finished 2nd in the NL in WAR (5.